by Ian Collard

Before the development of canals, railways or metalled roads, the quickest and most effective means of transporting goods from one point to another in Britain was by the use of coastal shipping, shallowdraught boats travelling between the ports of the British Isles.

With the development and improvement of the canals, railways and especially the road network, however, coastal shipping in the UK has decreased dramatically.

In this book, maritime author Ian Collard takes a look at the history of coastal shipping in the UK, examining a selection of the ships used to transport so much cargo and so many passengers across the English Channel, the Irish Sea, the Solent and along the west coast of Scotland, among other places.

This is far to large a subject to cover in a 96 page book so it cannot lay any claims to be anywhere near a comprehensive study of this subject.

What the author has produced is really a selection of photographs of coastal vessels mainly from the post WW2 period.

I am a great fan of this author’s books but this one doesn’t really achieve what he set out to do.

Published by: Amberley Publications
The Hill
Merrywalks
Stroud
Gloucestershire
GL5 4EP
www.amberley-books.com

Paperback: 168mm x 246mm, 96 pages illustrated

Price: £14.99